For months, the flakes fell — more than 74 inches in all — and
crews, as obliged, pushed and plowed the heaps of snow into corners of
parking lots and into backsides of buildings. Over time, the aesthetics of Midland, our relatively flat town, began
to change. Instead of the sun exposing plain cement lots, the
early-morning and late-afternoon light shone down on giant snow banks,
which, if looked at from the right angle and with a healthy amount of
imagination, resembled those snow-capped peaks and majestic mountain
ranges to our west.

And as spring
temperatures and longer days melt away the last of these massive mounds —
some climbing more than 15 feet high — we take a look back at some of
Midland’s most impressive mountains.